Price Paid:  $379.00 from Goodguys - open box

Summary:
I had 1000es and de895 at the same time. The de895 had a better "all around you" sound than the 1000es. Cox Cable movies were more enjoyable with the de895.

Strengths:
Clean sounding.

Weaknesses:
No precise speaker setup.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer 812, Onkyo 601, Sony DE895, Yamaha.

Price Paid:  $425.00 from 50Topsellers.com

Summary:
I recently replaced a Pioneer VSX-D511 with the Sony STR-DA1000ES. The new Sony sounds fantastic, I can really hear a difference with the wide area stereo compared to my former a/v receiver. The additional sound fields are great. It als ohas a lot of digital fiber optic inputs, but only one RCA digital audio input. The RCA digital audio input jack can only be switched between the DVD player, and the CD player. This is a dissapointment, since my last receiver had a fully switchible RCA digital audio input jack that allowed me to hook up the digital sound from my cable box. Now i can no longer enjoy digital sound from my cable box, since my cable box does not have a fiber optic digital out. Also, the remote control is very difficult to program.

Strengths:
Good sound
phono input jacks!
multiple digital fiber optic inputs

Weaknesses:
The RCA digital aduio in put jack is not fully switchable.
The Remote Control is very difficult to program.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer VSX-498 and Pioneer VSX-511